Embracing the Chaos
by pinnipednorth
Summary: Leia returns home to the mess Han and Ben made on his day home from work. Pure fluff.


A/N: I'm back on my H/L bullshit (that's a lie, I've never actually been 100% off of it because these characters make me so happy and I'm a sucker for their story). As a note, I have had the worst time trying to generate ideas for them recently, so I apologize if this falls flat. If there are any particular scenarios you'd like to see play out between these two please feel free to send me a message or a comment, I'd love to write for them. I've had an itch to write pre-ESB content on Hoth in particular because that is personally my favorite part of their timeline but I'm open to anything. Anyways, thank you for reading this!

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Leia Organa was tired. Well, not tired so much as she was exhausted. She'd spent the day buried in paperwork; the annual review of the budget had rolled around yet again and numerous planets were eager to receive more funding. Leia's time had consisted of approving the applications of more deserving projects and denying those that were better served by the allocated funds of the planet's own government and she was overwhelmed by the number of times she had had to tell someone no today. It had gone against her need-to-please nature.

The floors blurred past the glass windows as the lift climbed towards her and Han's apartment. Han had put in leave for today to spend the day with Ben and her heart ached to see her boys. The door to the lift opened and she stepped out into the hallway, the sounds of her son's laughter leaking through the walls and wrapping around her like an embrace, warming her soul. Leia palmed the access code into the screen and the door opened with a hiss to chaos - Han and Ben had been painting at the dining room table and various colors had found their way to, seemingly, everywhere except the canvas.

Ben's face beamed at the sight of her, thoughts of his masterpiece abandoned as he flung himself from the chair and onto the floor.

"Momma!" He shrieked, dashing towards Leia, his little legs barely fast enough to prevent him from toppling over. His gently flouncing dark hair was accompanied by the pattering of his feet, one foot slightly quieter than the other as a result of wearing only one sock. He clung to Leia's legs, his colorful hands leaving marks on her beige dress slacks. She bent down to collect Ben in her arms, making her way towards her frazzled husband.

"Why does my baby have paint in his hair?" She questioned, placing frenzied kisses along Ben's jawline. It was directed at Han, but her attention hadn't left the toddler that was fiddling with her earring.

"It's washable, d'worry. It'll come out." Han rose from the table.

"It better," she said, leaning up to kiss him. "Because I'm not investing the resources to make another one of these."

Han grinned salaciously. "But think of the development phase, sweetheart."

He didn't miss the fleeting gleam of bashfulness in her glare as her eyes took in his face. His features were still as handsome as ever, the dark circles under his eyes the only indicator of how their relationship had evolved since Yavin. That, and the small, black fingerprints on his face.

"One and done."

Motherhood was a realm that Leia was still trying to adjust to and she was still discovering new experiences and emotions that she hadn't expected prior to Ben. She had become pregnant quite young and much earlier in her marriage than anyone had really expected, herself included. It wasn't that she and Han hadn't discussed the matter - because they had - but Ben's conception had been what Leia liked to describe to others as a 'pleasantly unexpected gift', which wasn't exactly untrue. If she'd had a say in the matter, he would've been born at a time characterized by stability rather than during the reconstruction efforts when her work demanded so much from her, but everything that she had read on the holonet insisted that waiting for the perfect time to have a child would result in never having a baby. Her work schedule had been a factor in their decision to raise their son as an only child, allowing her to dedicate as much of her undivided, unconditional affection to him as possible.

"I know." He hummed, reaching for the seat of her pants. Leia tried to squirm out of his embrace but he drew her closer.

"You have paint on your hands."

He smiled wryly. "Yeah, and?" His hand reached up to brush away a green line that Ben's hair had left on her cheek but the motion had only served to make the mark worse. "You have paint on your face."

She flicked her eyes in response and turned her attention back to her son. "Were you and Daddy painting?"

Ben nodded and drew a line down her face with his pointer finger, his head falling back as a side-splitting laugh that melted Leia's heart erupted from his chest. Evidently he was pleased with his artistic ability.

Han ruffled his hair. "Why don't you show Momma what you made?"

Ben leaned away from Leia's chest, his tiny arm reaching towards the table, hair falling in his eyes. Leia's grip tightened around his lower back, prompting Ben to lean back further so he was hanging completely upside down, peering up at Han.

"What are you doing, silly?" She laughed.

His shirt had fallen to his chest and Han took advantage of Ben's vulnerable position by poking him gently on the stomach, causing him to burst with giggles. Leia shifted her body weight to swing him back into an upright position and pulled his shirt back down to its rightful place. She sat Ben down in the chair he had bound from earlier.

The painting on the table depicted a messy, juvenile portrait of… well, Leia didn't actually know what it was. A crudely drawn wavy, brown figure stood in the middle of a green background, their arms outstretched as if they were about to embrace someone. _That explains his hair_, Leia shook her head amusedly.

"Chewie." Ben pointed to the figure's smile. He was still having a hard time pronouncing Chewbacca's name, the _Ch_ replaced with a _T_. The paint was still wet and Leia could see the lines from the pad of Ben's finger on the canvas.

"That's great, baby." She brushed her knuckles against his jaw and gave his cheeks a gentle squeeze between her index finger and thumb. "It looks like you need a bath now."

Ben responded with a happy trill - his best Wookiee impression. Han hoisted his son up from the table and held him from his ankles, making his way towards the refresher.

"Come on kiddo, let's go get washed up."

"Han!" Her heart began to race at his fatherly roughhousing. Leia called after them, "Don't drop him!"

"I know, I know, _precious cargo_." He shook Ben who screamed in delight, his dangling hands and hair wiggling from side to side. Ben's toes splayed out in response.

She watched as they disappeared down the hallway. Ben's cackling bounced off the walls and chipped away at her resolve. She could embrace the chaos for moments like that.

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A/N: Ben Solo was a happy baby, you can't convince me otherwise.

Please leave a review if you enjoyed!

xPN


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